Liebster Award

I am so excited to announce that Mama Tries Blog has been nominated for a Liebster Award! The Liebster Award is given by the blogging community to recognize and support new bloggers. I am so honored that Heather Marie at Life, Love, and Lasagna nominated me! Her blog is amazing and we have some seriously uncanny similarities – like items 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, and 11 of the “11 Random Facts About Me” section of her Liebster Award post.

The rules of the award are:

Thank the blog that nominated you and link back to them

Answer 11 questions from the blogger that nominated you

Tell readers 11 random facts about yourself

Nominate up to 11 bloggers to receive the award next

Give your new nominees questions to answer about themselves when they post their nomination

My Q&A with Heather Marie

Who is your favorite fictional character, and why?

It’s a tie and I named my children after them. My older daughter is named after Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and my younger daughter is named after Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. I tend to keep that information to myself for fear that people will think it’s either pretentious or cliche.

What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned since starting your blog?

Self-promotion gives me a serious case of the sweats. I am terrified of coming off as pushy or arrogant and I basically need a shot of tequila every time I post a link to my website somewhere.

What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?

Cuddling on the couch with my girls, cup of Earl Grey in hand, while my husband makes waffles. We lounge for a while, we stroll around the neighborhood, eventually making our way to a playground, and have a picnic lunch. I go for a run while they relax back at home. That evening, my husband and I have a babysitter and go out for dinner and cocktails.

What are your pet peeves?

People who talk during adult movies. I have a visceral reaction to people chattering at the movie theater and become consumed with a body-encompassing rage. On the other hand, I can’t tolerate people who expect quiet at children’s movies. If you came to a matinee showing of Cinderella, don’t give my two-year-old a dirty look when she squeals over the blue dress!

If you were a superhero, what superpower would you have?

The power to never have to sleep would be nice. Imagine what I could get done! Like, maybe my children would have clean, matching socks to wear to school!

What prompted you to start a blog?

I went to college to be a journalist, but ultimately changed career paths. I then spent years thinking “someday” writing would become a hobby again, but I never felt like there was any time. When my husband was away for three weeks this winter, my evenings were pretty darn free, so I figured if I didn’t try then, that I never would.

What’s your favorite holiday, and why?

This is like asking me which child I love more – I need to choose two!

Halloween: We get super into Halloween at our house. We love dressing up, and have gone with a theme for the last two years. Below is a pic from a few years ago when we did Peter Pan. Head over to this post to see us as KISS. We have an amazing neighborhood for trick or treating – the streets are teeming with packs of kids and the flow is so constant that there’s no point in closing your door. Every year, my husband and his friends set up a fog machine and scare trick or treaters with a Halloween prank that involves a rubber elk head. My children are visions of sheer joy for the entire day, and the moms and dads are having just as much fun. It’s totally worth the sugar hangover my children have the next day.

Christmas Eve: My family is Italian, so we have the 7 Fishes dinner, which is my favorite meal on the planet. Anchovy sauce might sounds gross to someone who has never had it, but it is pure salty heaven. The kids love to be with their cousins, and, rather than being about presents, the whole holiday is about being with family. It also doesn’t hurt that I am the youngest of the entire family, so no one expects anything at all from me – which means, while everyone else attending has slaved in the kitchen all day, all I’ve done is cut up vegetables for a crudites platter.

Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?

Sofia Vergara automatically comes to mind, but just because of our obvious physical similarities. You don’t see it? No? Okay, how about Tina Fey? I think she’s beyond brilliant and hilarious, and who wouldn’t want one of their idols to play them on the big screen?

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Pasta. I basically eat it everyday anyway, so it wouldn’t take much getting used to. The concept of gluten intolerance is the stuff of nightmares for me.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love?

Childbirth.

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Do not wake before dawn.

11 Random Facts about Me

1.) When trying to put this list together and I asked my husband what a funny thing about me was, he replied with, “Your face.” And that is why we are married.

2.) Finding out there is no milk for my morning tea basically destroys me for the rest of the day.

3.) My husband drove me home from school once when I was a sophomore and he was a senior in high school – and I didn’t say a word the entire ride. Because boys.

4.) I don’t know what I’d do without my high school girlfriends and college girlfriends, who are still my best friends. We would do anything for one another, and being with them feeds my soul.

5.) My college friends and I had nicknames for everyone. Sometimes they were benign, but some we will have to take to the grave. Panty Stealer and Eh Ladies are two of my personal favorites.

7.) My brother is the funniest person I know and if he ever does a guest blog on here (consider this your invitation), no one will ever want me to write again.

8.) I lived in Dublin for three months, didn’t have a job, traveled throughout the country and other parts of Europe, and paid for my exorbitant rent by taking out cash advances from my credit card. I came home $10,000 in debt and it was worth every penny.

9.) There are not enough words in the world to express how much I love my children, so I will just share a favorite thing about each of my girls.When my younger daughter gets excited, her voice becomes so high pitched that only dogs can hear it. When she gets mad, she acquires a Boston accent, which makes us laugh, causing her to get even more upset. My older daughter has the most expressive face and I often wonder if she will grow up to be a comedy genius. Plus, even though most of her jokes are about tushies, they’re always pretty darn funny.

10.) I have been a lifelong sufferer of Resting Bitch Face, which has resulted in an exorbitant number of random people on the street telling me to smile. A high school friend actually tried to give me lessons in smiling at strangers before we left for college. When this affliction actually became a thing – with a name – a few years ago, I was full of joy. Not that anyone would have known…

11.) My mom never spanked me and only yelled at me about three times ever, yet I rarely misbehaved because I was terrified of disappointing her. Now that I am a mother, I want to know what kind of witchcraft she used to do this because my kids could care less about upsetting me.

Below is the bloggers I have nominated. They are all so different from one another, but all fantastic. These women have written blogs that will inspire you to laugh, cry, think, and, most of all, feel grateful and empowered to be a woman in this world.

Oh, this was so awesome to read!!! Thank you so much for nominating me (Third Shift Living).. Those are some very intriguing and interesting questions that we have to answer.. And very thought consuming.. I love it!!! And “Resting Bitch Face”, lol.. I have it too.. I have people tell me to “smile, it’s not that bad” all the time.. And i’m always thinking to myself, “I am smiling, can’t you tell?” lol… I can’t wait to read the other nominees answers to your questions.. And to pay it forward by nominating some great newbie bloggers out there..